


Boxing Gloves

by fishfingersandjellybabies



Series: Dad!Jason AU [20]
Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-31
Updated: 2016-03-31
Packaged: 2018-05-30 06:28:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6412693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fishfingersandjellybabies/pseuds/fishfingersandjellybabies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was the worst fight they’d ever had. They both said things they didn’t mean. But hindsight was always 20/20, and there was always that chance, always that fear, that things were broken beyond repair. </p><p>(But not if Damian had anything to say about it.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Boxing Gloves

**Author's Note:**

> One day I won’t end a fic with the implication of tender banging. Today is hardcore not that day. Damian’s six here, and this is a few months prior to Dick proposing. I believe I mention a big fight in the proposal fic, and this is what is being referenced.

It was hard to concentrate. Jason's words just kept echoing in his head.

 _"Well then get the_ fuck _out of my house, then!"_

But it wasn't the words that were haunting him, not really. Just the fact that that was exactly what he'd done.

He was mad at the time. They both were. Jason was angry about the parade of vigilantes Dick kept bringing through the apartment, while Dick himself was upset by Jason's isolation from the family. By Jason working more and more to keep Damian away from Bruce.

It all came to a head, and it ended with Dick storming out of the apartment in the near middle of the night.

He didn't even say goodbye to Damian.

That'd been a few days ago, or was it a week now? He'd been staying with Babs, but barely sleeping - either on duty as Officer Grayson or on patrol as Nightwing - so wasn't really keeping proper time.

Too long, regardless.

And he hadn't talked to him. Hadn't talked to Jason or Damian, and he couldn't help but wonder what the father told his son. The last time, the debacle with the Court of Owls, Jason had told his boss Dick left him, accidentally told Damian he was dead. And that was when he _wanted_ Dick there.

Maybe he didn't have to tell Damian anything. After all, it's not like their argument had been quiet. And he did slam the door on his way out.

Hell, probably the whole apartment complex heard it.

He sighed, tried to finish filling out this form. Something about a speeding ticket he issued that morning.

But who cared about speeding tickets when you hadn't spoken to your lover or child in days?

But he couldn't put it all on Jason. After all, it's not like he'd called the other either. Or texted or emailed or, you know, _went home_.

His heart seized a little. He was just trying to give Jason a little space, not smother him. Jason probably saw it as being abandoned, as Dick not _fighting_ for him.

He felt the tears well up in his eyes - not for the first time today - and dropped his pen. Dug the heels of his hands against his eyelids.

Even blinded as he was, he could sense the photo on the edge of his desk, of him, Jason and Damian on Halloween last year. The little wallet-sized image taped to top of his monitor, Damian's school picture.

…He'd messed up.

He jerked a little when his cell phone buzzed above his keyboard. Didn't look as he answered, knew it wouldn't be Jason anyway.

"Grayson."

"You sound tired." Barbara. "Why don't you come home for lunch."

Dick glanced up at his clock. 10:38am. "It's a little early for lunch, Babs."

"It's never too early for a burger." She sounded a little intense. Little urgent. No nonsense or arguing allowed. "Really, I insist. I've already got the fryer going. I know how you love _curly fries_."

Dick snorted. A running joke, because _Damian_ loved curly fries, and Jason and Dick indulged him far too much.  

"Besides, I'm worried about you." Barbara pushed. "You know, why don't you just take the day. Eat some good food, sleep off a bit of your funk and go back fresh tomorrow."

Dick laughed. "Barbara-"

"I mean, your captain already told me it was okay."

So, declining was a non-option, then.

"Fine. _Fine_." Dick sighed. "You twisted my arm, Babs. Let me just finish this report and I'll head out."

"You better." A pause, then quieter. "You can thank me for this later."

Dick rolled his eyes as they both hung up. Damian wasn't the only one he indulged, and he had half a mind to ignore her request.

But maybe she was right.

So, he stayed true. Finished his form, said goodbye to his captain and headed out, walking the seven blocks to Barbara's apartment.

He never made it to the apartment, though. Never even made it to the door. Was forced to freeze across the street, and stare at the stoop.

Because Damian was sitting there.

Damian, who was supposed to be in school. Damian, whose school was across the city. Damian, who wanted his Baba and Didi together and in _love_ and _happy_ more than anything or anyone in the world.

Suddenly, Barbara's curly fries joke made sense.

Damian wasn't looking at him. Curled up in his coat, backpack tight to his spine, he was more focused on the birds at his feet, and dismantling the sandwich in his lunchbox to feed them the bread.

Dick glanced up to large window, found Barbara sitting there, watching him expectantly.

She was right. He _would_ be thanking her later.

Dick jogged across the street without thinking. "Dames!"

Damian's eyes shot up, watched every move Dick made until he was looming over him. The birds scattered in annoyance.

"Sweetheart," Dick breathed, dropping to a crouch and running his fingers through Damian's hair. He could feel gel in it, knew only Jason applied it.

And, fuck, did Jason know he was here?!

He smiled, though. Tried not to show his potential fear of being _murdered_ by Jason Todd for this. "Baby, what are you doing here?"

"Finding you." Damian said simply, as if it was obvious. And frankly...okay, it kind of was. "When are you coming home?"

"Damian, you're supposed to be at school."

Damian frowned. He always hated being ignored. " _When_ are you coming home?"

"Does Baba know you're here?"

Damian pursed his lips, furrowed his brows. "Why don't you _want_ to come home?"

Shit. Dick couldn't ignore that one.

"You know I do." Dick tried to placate. "It's...complicated."

"Nu-uh." Damian declared haughtily. "I _want_ you to come home, so _do_ it."

"It's...not that easy, baby." Dick laughed nervously. "How'd...Dames, how'd you know I was here?"

"Robin told me." Damian supplied. Dick blinked. _Tim?_ "He was on the fire escape yesterday, when Baba was in the shower."

_Oh._

He chuckled again, leaned his forehead against Damian's.

He was in so much _trouble_.

"Baba misses you." Damian whispered suddenly. And it was a childishly eager confession. " _Baba_ wants you to come home."

"Does he now?" Dick asked warmly. "And I suppose he told you that?"

"Mhm!" Damian promised, even as Dick stood. Gathered the remnants of his sandwich back into his lunchbox and slammed the lid shut. "And he can't even kick you out this time. I'll _be there_ this time, I won't let him!"

Well. That explained if Damian knew or not.

Dick smiled down at him. "Let's go inside, okay? I hear Auntie Babs is making lunch."

Damian suddenly hesitated. Knocked his knees together nervously. "...Am I in trouble?"

Dick hummed in amusement as he leaned down and plucked Damian off the step, sat him gently against his hip. Damian's pout had morphed into apprehension, so Dick kissed his cheek in comfort.

Because this kid knew. Somehow. Whenever there was turmoil or strife with him, both Dick and Jason dropped everything to take care of it, and normally take care of it together. And to take care of it together, they had to _talk_.

Damn, this kid was too smart for his own good.

Dick laughed as he pushed the door open, and kissed Damian's face again. "Let me call your dad, then I'll let you know."

~~

Well, he'd been right about one thing - Jason was less than pleased.

He was unhappy to talk to Dick. Unhappy that he _had_ to talk to Dick. Almost hung up, but Dick said the magic word and kept him on the line.

 _Damian_.

No, Jason had said. He had no idea Damian wasn't in school. Had no idea how Damian had gotten across town. But Don was out today and Jason had to stay late. So, and as begrudgingly as humanly possible, Jason allowed Dick to keep Damian for the afternoon, forcing him to promise to bring him back by bedtime.

Dick took the leap then. Asked if they could talk, for real, when Dick brought _their_ son home. Jason avoided the question, claiming a sudden emergency in the shop, but if Dick didn't have Damian home by nine, there would be hell to pay.

The line clicked, then. And Dick could only sigh.

He didn't stay disappointed for long, though. Couldn't, really. Not with Damian talking his ear off. Through lunch, the afternoon, dinner and the drive home. Giving him every detail of every event over the past week that he'd missed.

Jesus, the kid barely took any breaths.

"And then Baba burned the chicken and said, like, a bagillion bad words." Damian explained as they walked through the steel door of the apartment building, and started up the steps. "The alarm was going off, and Mrs. E was so worried she almost kicked the door down!"

Dick could only chuckle in the tiny pause Damian gave him.

"In the end we got Chinese. But Baba pouted the rest of the night anyway." Damian continued. "I think it was because _you_ never burn the chicken, and he missed you." Damian stopped as he reached the first landing, and turned back to Dick. "Not just 'cause of the chicken a-course."

"Of course." Dick smiled as Damian took off for the next set of stairs.

Damian babbled on as they reached the second landing, and then the third. It was when the were starting up the last staircase, under Damian's new story about a dog, that Dick heard the click and creak of a certain door opening. He glanced up, watched Jason's socked feet appear by the railing. Looked up further to see Jason leaning over, watching them.

His face was neutral, almost blank, and Dick couldn't quite read it.

Damian rounded the top landing, then gave a loud shout of "Baba!" that made it seem like he hadn't seen Jason in a month, and barreled towards him. Jason crouched and caught him easily, blank face falling into natural happiness as he held his little boy.

Jason pulled him away and held his shoulders as Dick approached behind him. "And what do you have to say for yourself, young man?"

Damian pursed his lips, blinked in that way he knew none of his many caretakers could resist. "...I brought Didi home?"

Jason glanced up at Dick, but didn't linger. Let his smile widen as he sighed, though.

"You sure did." Jason ruffled his hair then slapped gently at Damian's behind before standing. "Now get inside. We'll talk _grounding_ in a minute."

Damian groaned pathetically, but did as he was told. Jason and Dick both stood where they were until they saw the flash of Damian turning his bedroom light on. Jason turned back to Dick, then, lips already moving, but Dick didn't give him the chance to speak.

"Can we talk?"

It was blurted a little more desperately than Dick would have liked, but. As it was, he _was_ desperate. Because he missed Jason. More than he originally thought he did, until seeing him in person again. He missed Damian. He missed their family.

Jason snapped his mouth shut, and his face fell to stone once more. After a second, though, he sighed. Dropped his shoulders and motioned towards the door.

"Come on."

Jason turned and walked back into the apartment. Dick followed eagerly behind him, watching Jason continue to move into the home, even as he leaned back against the door, closing it quietly.

“Close your door, Damian.” Jason called lazily, moving into the kitchen.

“Is Didi still here?!” Damian shouted.

“ _Ye-es_.” Jason droned.

Dick moved forward and glanced down the hall, only to see Damian’s head pop out of his doorway, face set in a concerned scowl. “Are you going to fight again?”

Dick smiled, and shook his head. “It’ll be fine, just close your door, okay?”

Damian stared at him critically for a moment, before huffing and doing as he was told. Slamming his door dramatically.

Dick chuckled, and turned back towards the kitchen, where Jason was filling the sink with water to wash dishes. He sighed as he stepped forward, and leaned against the entryway.

“So?”

“So what?” Jason snapped, not looking up, squirting soap into the filling basin.

“Jay, don’t do this to me. Please.” Dick tried, flopping his head against the wall. “Just _talk_ to me.”

Jason snorted. “You made _your_ stance pretty clear last week.”

“And what stance is that?”

“That you care more about Bruce having the _whole family_ around than keeping Damian safe and away from that vigilante shit.” Jason shot at him. “That you care more about…the fucking _Justice League_ having a place to put their feet up than the potential threat they bring to the one _you_ call your _son_.”

Dick felt his anger flare – the same anger that pulled him away from this place last week. “You know that’s not true, Jay.”

“Prove me wrong, then.”

“If I really cared more about Bruce having his biological son than keeping Damian…what did you say, _safe_? Don’t you think I would have done something about it?” Dick asked, stepping into the kitchen. “Like, today? I didn’t _have_ to call you. I could have driven right to the manor. Convinced Bruce that _you_ were the one who needed to be kept away, not him.”

He saw Jason’s whole body tense.

“And…what, you’re really complaining that _Superman_ is here too much? Diana? _Donna?”_ Dick continued, stepping closer, knowing it was a dangerous line he was walking. He could box Jason into the corner of the counter, sure. Had done so for some of their more…intimate moments. For impromptu make out sessions, and tired cuddling. But right now, when Jason was pissed?

Once a Robin, always a Robin. No matter how long it’s been, you never forget your skills.

Jason could take him down easily, if he got close enough. Could kill him, if he thought about it fast enough.

But. Dick loved him, and was willing to take the risk.

“And you think I don’t make them memorize every house rule we have before even coming to our _block?_ ” Dick whispered now, reaching out, brushing his fingers against Jason’s arm. “You don’t think we take precautions? That, god forbid, those precautions don’t work, and someone _does_ follow them, they wouldn’t be willing to fight to the _death_ to protect him?”

Jason wouldn’t look at him, physically turned his head away. “I just…it’s scary, Dick. You _have_ to realize that.”

“I do.” Dick promised. “I understand, Jay.”

“I’m not in the game anymore, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten how it was.” Jason murmured. “I got the worst of it, and you don’t seem to _remember_ that.”

“I do. Oh, Jay,” Dick breathed, slipping between Jason and the sink. Keeping his hand on his arm, tried to duck into Jason’s line of sight. “If there’s anything I remember, it’s _that_.”

“…I’m not…I’m not telling you to stop. Clark, Donna…they’re all fine. You know if I _really_ had a problem with the…the vigilante stuff, I’d have given you an ultimatum after the Owls business. Probably even before that.” Jason sighed, shifting a little closer, pressing his thighs hesitantly against Dick’s, reaching blindly behind him to turn off the water. “Just…I don’t know. Can you tone it down? Text me and give me warning when I’m going to come home and fucking…find the _Flash_ sitting on my sofa?”

“I can do that.” Dick smiled, shifting his hand from Jason’s arm to his waist, using his other hand to press at Jason’s cheek, turn his face back towards him. “Can _you_ do something for _me_?”

Jason kept his eyes lowered for a second more, before – and Dick didn’t know how, what with the younger being _taller_ than him – glancing up at him through his lashes.

“Try with Bruce?” He could already feel Jason tensing again, even going to pull away. “Not a lot,” He said quickly, reeling Jason back in. “Just…a little. Maybe visit the manor once a week. Or we can start slower, and go once a month. Have dinner with him. Let him babysit, when we go out.”

Jason just exhaled.

“I know you don’t hate him. I know you love him just as much as you always have.” Dick whispered. “I know you’re scared he’s going to take Damian away from you, but Jason, babe. Think about it. You’ve had him going on six years, and Bruce has known about him for about three. Has he succeeded in taking him yet?”

Jason closed his eyes. Leaned into Dick’s hand and shook his head.

“Even when I…” Dick frowned at the memory. “Even when I wasn’t here, when you thought I was dead. Did Bruce take him?”

Another negative.

“Damian has a whole family in that big ugly house. Let him see them. Let him _know_ them. Outside of the tragedies and the masks and _some_ holidays. Go over there without me sometimes. Don’t lie and shirk your way out of a gala.” Dick tried. “I’m not saying every day. I’m not saying, you know, weeks with us, weekends with Bruce. I’m just saying…god, let Bruce and Tim come to the _first grade talent show_. Let Cass and Alfred pick him up from school when you and I work late.”

Jason didn’t respond. Didn’t move away either, though.

“He is your son.” Dick promised. “He is _our_ son, and they will _never_ take that away from us. We could see them every day, we could _move into the manor_ , and that will always, _always_ , be the truth. And I will always _fight_ for that to be the truth. _Okay?”_

Jason still didn’t open his eyes, but this time, he nodded. Slowly, reluctantly.

“Okay.” He breathed, even as Dick moved his other hand up, stroked both thumbs across Jason’s cheekbones. “I’ll…I can try.” Suddenly those green eyes opened. “I can try if _you_ can.”

“Of course.” Dick grinned, pulling Jason down. “…I love you.” He swore, kissing Jason gently. Feeling relief when he felt Jason’s hands grab at his hips. Kept Jason close even as he whispered. “I _missed_ you.”

“God, I missed you too.” Jason practically moaned, diving back in, biting at Dick’s lips. Trailing his kisses across Dick’s cheek and down his throat. “…Please don’t make me kick you out again. _Asshole_ isn’t a good look on you, you know.”

“I know,” Dick chuckled, still holding Jason’s face, leaning his cheek against his. “…I’m sorry, Jay.”

“Me, too.” Jason murmured, releasing Dick’s hips only to grab the edges of the sink, pull himself forward to grind their bodies together, and box the smaller against the counter. Kept mouthing at his throat, getting more desperate with each pass, like he was trying to tear away his skin with his teeth. “…I’m sorry I yelled.”

“And I’m sorry I yelled back.” Dick conceded, running his hand down Jason’s chest, pausing at the hem of Jason’s shirt, to flit his fingers underneath for a moment, before continuing downwards to the front of Jason’s sweatpants. “I’m sorry I actually _left_. I know you di-”

“Is Didi staying?!” Jason jerked away from Dick’s neck, and Dick turned as much as he could. Damian was leaning out of his doorway once more, watching them seriously. Worriedly.

Dick laughed, leaning forward, holding Jason tighter, even as the younger rolled his eyes. “ _Yes_ , Didi is staying. Now go to _bed_.”

Damian paused. “…Am I still in trouble?”

“To _bed_ , young man.” Jason said sternly. Hard to do, when Dick was laughing into his chest. “We’ll talk about it in the morning.”

“But you said-”

“ _Now_.”

Damian growled loudly, and slammed his door again. They waited until they heard the squeak of his mattress as the child flopped onto it.

“We should be…lenient.” Dick chuckled, even as he pulled back to look up at Jason’s face. Jason remained flush against him, even though the moment was ruined. (At least in the kitchen.) “He did _mean_ well.”

“He still left school and didn’t tell either of us where he was going or what he was doing.” Jason returned. He smiled, then, though. “But, I’m willing to be persuaded. For a _lighter_ sentence, anyway.”

“Oh?” Dick let his smile fall into a smirk, as he slipped away from the sink, hooked his fingers into the waistband of Jason’s sweats and _pulled_. Started a clear path back towards their bedroom. The dishes could wait. “Well then, step into my office.”

“After you,” Jason purred as they crossed the threshold. “ _Mister_ Grayson.”

**Author's Note:**

> [Other things for Nevolition’s Dad!Jason AU](http://fishfingersandjellybabies.tumblr.com/tagged/dad%21jason+au)   
> 


End file.
